From Fr. Jude Botelho:
Today’s first reading is from Isaiah who reminds the people that the time has come for their liberation for the Lord is coming with his light to enlighten all nations. He also tells them that God has come not only for them but for all those who live in darkness. “For the Lord will arise upon you and his glory will appear over you.” The exiled Jews are pictured as returning to their homeland and as they come they bring back the wealth of the nations. The point that is being made is that salvation coming from God is for all people and not restricted to the Jews. God is for all who look for him and receive him. All people will be saved.
Angel at work?
The British express train raced through the night, its powerful headlight piercing the darkness. Queen Victoria was a passenger on the train. Suddenly the engineer saw a startling sight. Revealed in the beam of the engine’s light was a strange figure in a black cloak standing in the middle of the tracks and waving its arms. The engineer grabbed for the brake and brought the train to a grinding halt. He and his fellow trainmen clambered down to see what had stopped them. But they could find no trace of the strange figure. On a hunch the engineer walked a few yards further up the tracks. Suddenly he stopped and stared into the fog in horror. A bridge had been washed out in the middle and ahead of them it had toppled into a swollen stream. If the engineer had not heeded the ghostly figure, his train would have plummeted down into the stream. While the bridge and tracks were being repaired, the crew made a more intensive search for the strange flagman. But not until they got to London did they solve the mystery. At the base of the engine’s head lamp the engineer discovered a huge dead moth. He looked at it a moment, then on impulse wet its wings and pasted it to the glass of the lamp. Climbing back in to his cab, he switched on the light and saw the “flagman” in the beam. In the fog, it appeared to be a phantom figure, waving its arms. When Queen Victoria was told of the strange happening she said, “I’m sure it was no accident. It was God’s way of protecting us.” No, the figure the engineer saw in the headlight’s beam was not an angel…and yet God, quite possibly through the ministry of His unseen angels, had placed the moth on the headlight lens exactly when and where it was needed.
Billy Graham from ‘Unto the Hills’
Today’s gospel reminds us that besides the shepherds those who were given the good news were wise men from the East who journeyed in search of the new-born king. In search of the new-born king they went to king Herod to find out the whereabouts of Jesus. But Herod was greatly perturbed at the prospect of an infant king and he desired to destroy the infant. Like the shepherds and the wise men everyone who wishes to discover the Lord has to embark on a faith journey. Just as the wise men we too may sometimes be searching for God in the wrong places and so we do not find him. Instead of a royal palace they had to search for Jesus in Bethlehem. Having received instructions from king Herod, the wise men again set out and rediscovered the star that lead them to Jesus. They paid him homage and offered him the gifts they had brought along. Having seen the Lord they made plans to return but being warned about Herod’s evil scheme to eliminate Jesus, they returned home by a different way. Today’s Gospel has much to teach us about our own faith journey. There will be moments when things are clear and moments when we are confused and lost. What is important is that we persevere even when in darkness and confusion, for the Lord will come to our aid in strange ways if we let Him guide us. Secondly, we cannot come empty handed into the presence of God. The wise men offered what they had brought along: gold, frankincense and myrrh. What have we to offer to the Lord? Even if we believe we have nothing worthwhile to offer, we still have the best gift we can offer, the gift of ourselves. Christmas is after all a season of gift-giving. Have we offered ourselves to God? Lastly, after meeting the new born king the wise men were told to return home by a new way. If we have met the Lord, our lives will no longer be the same. We have to live life in a new way. Every God-encounter should be a conversion experience.
Reveal the Lord!
The first Christmas was an almost hidden event. God became human but nobody knew except Mary and Joseph and a few shepherds. Even they did not realize the full meaning of what had happened. Then the wise men came from the East to acknowledge that this infant was a special one sent by God. The coming of the Magi was to show that God took on human nature not just for the chosen people but to save all people. The enterprising trio followed God’s inspiration, found Christ and brought the good news back to their own people. They were not distracted from that task even by Herod’s invitation to return and enjoy his royal hospitality. As we move into the New Year, people everywhere will need to hear and heed the fact that God has visited his people and He lives in our world. On the feast of the Epiphany, we ask for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us so that, like the Magi, we will not be distracted from bringing him to our own people and others during the coming year.
Tom Clancy in ‘Living the Word’
Those who are at the top need to fear a fall
Raymond Brown, the great New Testament scholar, found an echo of the story of the Three Wise Men in the story of king Balak and the prophet Balaam in the Old Testament. Balak was a king of Moabites. When the Israelites left Egypt under the leadership of Moses, king Balak feared the Israelites and wanted to destroy them, like king Herod who feared the birth of the Messiah. To accomplish his purpose, Balak summoned a famous prophet Balaam to place a curse on Israel. Balaam was an interesting character; he was a non-Israelite, and a practitioner of enchantment. He was capable of doing both good and evil. Balaam, the prophet, came from the east along with two servants, thereby, making the number three, like the Magi. And when he came, instead of cursing Israel, he foiled king Balak’s efforts by blessing Israel and foretelling about the future greatness of Israel and the rise of its royal ruler, He prophesied and said, “A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will rise from Israel.” The wicked king Balak, like king Herod, sought to use a magus to destroy his enemy, but his efforts were foiled.
Sunday Homilies; John Rose
Journeys
Marco Polo journeyed to India and China; Christopher Columbus journeyed to America; Admiral Byrd journeyed to the South Pole; Armstrong journeyed to the moon. They all undertook daring adventures. Likewise, The Magi, as narrated in the Gospel, journeyed to find the new born babe, Jesus. Leaving the security of their homeland, they ventured forth into a strange country in order to find the Saviour. Like all men, these astrologers too were in constant search after human fulfillment, but they believed that only in the Saviour they could finally find what they had been searching for all their lives. We too are making our individual journeys, searching after something which alone will give meaning to our existence; we are searching for something permanent and eternal. Happily for us, by the gift of faith in Christ which we already possess, we are in no doubt that we can find our perfect fulfillment only in Jesus. But we need a guide for our spiritual journey as the Magi needed a star to guide them to Jesus. Our guiding star is obviously the divine teachings of Christ. The more truly we follow our Lord’s teachings in daily life, the more surely we will encounter him and the more easily he will be able to reveal himself to us.
Vima Dasan in ‘His Word Lives’
The Impossible Dream
God does not draw drafts of divine plans, but plants dreams in human hearts. Jacob, Daniel, Joseph of the Old Testament and Joseph of Nazareth nursed dreams and cooperated with God to turn dreams into reality. Jesus himself sowed a beautiful dream in human hearts: the kingdom of God, a new world order. The ‘I have a dream’ speech of Martin Luther King Jr. delivered during the Civil Rights March on Aug. 28, 1963, changed the course of history for Afro-Americans. Two months later, John F. Kennedy said in Dublin, “We need men and women who can dream of things that never were.” Both were murdered. But their dreams never die. A young Spaniard called Francis once dreamt that he carried an Indian on his shoulders. Confiding in his friend Laynez, he said, “Do you know what I dreamt? That I was trying to hoist an Indian on my shoulders, and he was such a dead weight I couldn’t lift him!” Francis Xavier arrived in India in 1541 to lift Indians for an Epiphany-experience. The New Year calls for new dreams. And dreams call for a spirit of daring and striving to do! May we be filled with that spirit this New Year.
The Gift of the Magi
The story concerns a young married couple named Jim and Della. They are poor but much in love with each other. As Christmas approaches, Della wonders what to get Jim for Christmas. She would like to give him a chain for his gold watch, but she doesn’t have enough money. Then she gets an idea. She has beautiful long hair. She decides to cut off her hair and sell them to buy the chain for Jim’s watch. On Christmas Eve she is returning home. In her hand is a beautiful box containing a gold chain which she has purchased with her hair. Suddenly Della begins to worry. She knows Jim admired her long hair, and she wonders if he will be disappointed that she cut it and sold it. Only time will tell. Della climbs the final flight of stairs leading to their tiny apartment. She unlocks the door and finds Jim waiting. In his hand is a neatly wrapped box containing the gift he has purchased for her. When Jim sees Della’s short hair, tears begin to form in his eyes. But he says nothing. He chokes back the tears and gives her the box. When Della opens it, she can’t believe what she sees. There in the box is a set of beautiful combs for her long hair. And when Jim opens his gift, he too can hardly believe his eyes. There inside the box is a beautiful chain for his gold watch. Only then does Della realize that Jim sold his gold watch to buy the combs for her hair. -Some people think the surprise ending of the story is tragic. But most people consider it beautiful. What makes it beautiful is not the gifts, but the love that the gifts symbolize.
O. Henry
Returning from exile the deported Jews have set out on a journey to Jerusalem, a Jerusalem lit by the multiple candles of the rebuilt temple. The prophet looks beyond Jerusalem, to a city beyond this, not to the earthly city but one that the Lord will build, to which all people are welcome to journey. This city will be the city of the kingdom of God built on faith. Already the prophet believes that all kinds of people from all over the world, from every tribe and nation are on the move towards this heavenly Jerusalem.
The Quest
Once upon a time, in a far off land deep in shadow, there lived two orphans who were very unhappy living in shadowland. One day they decided to leave their homeland and journey beyond the grey mountains until they would come face to face with the light that makes colours. So while the rest of the country was fast asleep in their grey beds, they packed their few belongings in a knapsack and set off on their quest to discover the light and bring it back to shadowland. – Most of the stories we remember from our own childhood are stories of quests where the hero leaves the world of the familiar and sets out for an unknown country in search of something special or someone special. Many of our great religious stories follow the same pattern. Does our faith journey lead us on such a quest?
- Denis McBride in ‘Seasons of the Word’
In the second reading Paul reminds his readers in Ephesus that there is no longer any privileged place nor any holy city necessary for our journey to the Lord. All people are invited and all people can come and experience the Lord without any pre conditions to be fulfilled. His revelation is the work of the Spirit in the hearts of believers, through the preaching of the gospel. All are called to journey together to show the unity of the Body of Christ. Jews and gentiles are all part of the one Body of Christ. In today’s Gospel Matthew tells the classic story of the arrival of some strangers in Jerusalem. They are called ‘Magi’ which is variously translated as astrologers, magicians, wise men. Mathew contrasts the Magi who follow natural means- the star, against the wise men of Judea who are able to follow their own sign – the scriptures. They have enough information from their scriptures to discover where the new king will be born, but they are not ready to act upon this knowledge which has been revealed in the scriptures. By contrast the wise strangers from the East traveled from distant places, taking risks in following a star and journeying in faith and hope. They are willing to be instructed in a scripture foreign to them and are rewarded by their discovery of the new-born king. “How wonderfully God adapts his Christmas message to the capacity of his hearers! For the shepherd he uses a manger; for the Magi, a star; for the learned scribes, scripture; for Herod, the wise men from the East. The wise men symbolize for us the countless multitudes long-exiled from paradise yet retaining some lingering, undefined nostalgia for it. How many had this presentment about the King of the Jews, born under a luck star? Only the Magi undertook the journey and followed it through to the end.” Bible Missal
Adventurers
When pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager made their historic flight in 1986 with their spindly Voyager aircraft, the whole world followed it with excitement. For nine days a sky-watch was kept tracking their first non-stop global flight without refueling. Achievers and risk-takers like Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager have always fascinated us. Marco Polo journeying to India and China, Christopher Columbus coming to America, Admiral Byrd going to the South Pole, our Astronauts flying to the moon: such adventurers have always aroused our admiration and our skepticism. – It was no different at the time of the Magi in today’s gospel story. To the cynical observer the Magi must have seemed foolish to go following a star. These astrologers had to be a little crazy leaving the security of their homeland to venture forth into a strange country presided by a madman like Herod. Nevertheless, to the person with the eyes of faith, the Magi had discovered an immense secret. They found not only the secret of the star, but the secret of the whole universe –the secret of God’s incredible love for his people. For the child they found was no ordinary child but the very Son of God become man.
- Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’
After the Magi found the babe in the manger and offered their gifts they were ready to return home but were warned not to go back by the way they came but to return by a different way. This suggests not just a new geographical route but a new mentality. This little detail perhaps has a significance all its own. All are invited to discover God through the different journeys in faith that they undertake. But after encountering God we cannot be the same, we cannot return to our old ways. The encounter has to change us. It is impossible to encounter Christ without it affecting the way we live our lives.
Star of Bethlehem
Gordon Wilson’s daughter was killed by a bomb in Enniskillen on Remembrance Day 1987. Instead of calling for revenge, he forgave her killers and began a campaign for peace and reconciliation. He said: “I am a very ordinary sort of man. I have few personal ambitions and no political aspirations. I just want to live and let live. Life has been kind to me in the main, and I have tried to live by the Good Book. I do not profess to be a good man, but I aim to be. I would like to leave the world a better place than I found it, but I have no exaggerated ideas of my ability to do so. I have hitched my wagon to a star, a star of hope, the star of Bethlehem.”
- Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies’
2. Where Are You Looking for God?
The camel on the roof raises the Epiphany question, Where are you looking for God? This compelling question of life properly stands at the beginning of a new year, just as Where have you found God? nicely serves as a question to cap a year's closing.
He put on his coat and overshoes and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn and opened the door wide and turned on the light. But the birds didn't come in. Food will bring them in he thought. So he hurried back to the house for bread crumbs which he sprinkled on the snow to make a trail to the barn.
But the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around waving his arms. They scattered in every direction except into the warm, lighted barn. "They find me a strange and terrifying creature," he said to himself, "and I can't seem to think of any way to let them know they can trust me."
Puzzled and dismayed, he pondered this thought, "If only I could be a bird myself for the moment, perhaps I could lead them to safety." If only I could be a bird myself . . .
Just then the church bells began to ring, pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. The man stood silently for a minute, then sank to his knees in the snow.
"Now I understand," he whispered as he lifted his gaze to the sky. "Now I see why You had to become man."
* Christmas letters - offering graceful glimpses of old friends;
* That rare mother/daughter afternoon, creating the most perfect Christmas of our lives;
* American soldiers sharing Christmas with war-scarred children;
* Virginia neighbors sharing love with a Pentagon widow;
* A Christmas pageant, so full of joy and giggles and energy, that I know God was smiling;
* A rippling harp lifting human voices to heaven;
* That sea of candles, shimmering with hope and memory, in the dark womb of this sanctuary.
Yes, my friends, if we try, we can hold onto the feelings, the images, the memories. But we will need to struggle to let this fresh incarnation, this tangible, touchable God carry us through the rest of the year. For the way things really are has already come crashing down upon us. This morning, before the baby has even digested his first decent meal, the gospel writer has us running - fleeing from danger and death and despair. Yes, Matthew forces us to deal with the rest of the Christmas story. And the reality is that the incarnation of good, of God, leads quickly to the incarnation of evil - not only 2,000 years ago, but today, here, now.
And despite our best efforts to create an atmosphere of cooperation and kindness, it is unrealistic to think we are going to eliminate from the face of the earth divisive, rude, evil people. Our only choice, unless we want to give in or give up, is to work around the evil. Yes, this is an imperfect world, but that does not relieve us of our responsibility to work for what is good and right. If anything, the evil present in our world only accentuates the need for us to do something.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway!
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway!
Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway!
The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds. Think big anyway!
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for some underdogs anyway!
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway!
People really need help but may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway!
Give the world the best you have and you will get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have any way!
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9. “Because you never know what’s going to happen next.” Little Amy was looking through the family album and found a picture of a man sitting behind a cow. All that was visible was the man’s legs and feet. When her photographer uncle who owned a photo studio came to visit her mother, Amy told him, “This is the only picture of my grandfather that we have. So please remove the cow so that I may see what he looked like." It is the same curiosity which led the magi to follow the star of Bethlehem. A survey was made among school children asking why they enjoyed reading Harry Potter novels and watching Harry Potter movies. The most common answer was, “Because you never know what’s going to happen next.” The same element of suspense marked the journey of the Magi, who never knew what road the Spirit was going to take them down next. Today’s readings invite us to have the curiosity of Amy and the school students so that we may discover the ‘epiphany’ of our God in everyone and every event, everywhere.
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Today’s first reading is from Isaiah who reminds the people that the time has come for their liberation for the Lord is coming with his light to enlighten all nations. He also tells them that God has come not only for them but for all those who live in darkness. “For the Lord will arise upon you and his glory will appear over you.” The exiled Jews are pictured as returning to their homeland and as they come they bring back the wealth of the nations. The point that is being made is that salvation coming from God is for all people and not restricted to the Jews. God is for all who look for him and receive him. All people will be saved.
Angel at work?
The British express train raced through the night, its powerful headlight piercing the darkness. Queen Victoria was a passenger on the train. Suddenly the engineer saw a startling sight. Revealed in the beam of the engine’s light was a strange figure in a black cloak standing in the middle of the tracks and waving its arms. The engineer grabbed for the brake and brought the train to a grinding halt. He and his fellow trainmen clambered down to see what had stopped them. But they could find no trace of the strange figure. On a hunch the engineer walked a few yards further up the tracks. Suddenly he stopped and stared into the fog in horror. A bridge had been washed out in the middle and ahead of them it had toppled into a swollen stream. If the engineer had not heeded the ghostly figure, his train would have plummeted down into the stream. While the bridge and tracks were being repaired, the crew made a more intensive search for the strange flagman. But not until they got to London did they solve the mystery. At the base of the engine’s head lamp the engineer discovered a huge dead moth. He looked at it a moment, then on impulse wet its wings and pasted it to the glass of the lamp. Climbing back in to his cab, he switched on the light and saw the “flagman” in the beam. In the fog, it appeared to be a phantom figure, waving its arms. When Queen Victoria was told of the strange happening she said, “I’m sure it was no accident. It was God’s way of protecting us.” No, the figure the engineer saw in the headlight’s beam was not an angel…and yet God, quite possibly through the ministry of His unseen angels, had placed the moth on the headlight lens exactly when and where it was needed.
Billy Graham from ‘Unto the Hills’
Today’s gospel reminds us that besides the shepherds those who were given the good news were wise men from the East who journeyed in search of the new-born king. In search of the new-born king they went to king Herod to find out the whereabouts of Jesus. But Herod was greatly perturbed at the prospect of an infant king and he desired to destroy the infant. Like the shepherds and the wise men everyone who wishes to discover the Lord has to embark on a faith journey. Just as the wise men we too may sometimes be searching for God in the wrong places and so we do not find him. Instead of a royal palace they had to search for Jesus in Bethlehem. Having received instructions from king Herod, the wise men again set out and rediscovered the star that lead them to Jesus. They paid him homage and offered him the gifts they had brought along. Having seen the Lord they made plans to return but being warned about Herod’s evil scheme to eliminate Jesus, they returned home by a different way. Today’s Gospel has much to teach us about our own faith journey. There will be moments when things are clear and moments when we are confused and lost. What is important is that we persevere even when in darkness and confusion, for the Lord will come to our aid in strange ways if we let Him guide us. Secondly, we cannot come empty handed into the presence of God. The wise men offered what they had brought along: gold, frankincense and myrrh. What have we to offer to the Lord? Even if we believe we have nothing worthwhile to offer, we still have the best gift we can offer, the gift of ourselves. Christmas is after all a season of gift-giving. Have we offered ourselves to God? Lastly, after meeting the new born king the wise men were told to return home by a new way. If we have met the Lord, our lives will no longer be the same. We have to live life in a new way. Every God-encounter should be a conversion experience.
Reveal the Lord!
The first Christmas was an almost hidden event. God became human but nobody knew except Mary and Joseph and a few shepherds. Even they did not realize the full meaning of what had happened. Then the wise men came from the East to acknowledge that this infant was a special one sent by God. The coming of the Magi was to show that God took on human nature not just for the chosen people but to save all people. The enterprising trio followed God’s inspiration, found Christ and brought the good news back to their own people. They were not distracted from that task even by Herod’s invitation to return and enjoy his royal hospitality. As we move into the New Year, people everywhere will need to hear and heed the fact that God has visited his people and He lives in our world. On the feast of the Epiphany, we ask for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us so that, like the Magi, we will not be distracted from bringing him to our own people and others during the coming year.
Tom Clancy in ‘Living the Word’
Those who are at the top need to fear a fall
Raymond Brown, the great New Testament scholar, found an echo of the story of the Three Wise Men in the story of king Balak and the prophet Balaam in the Old Testament. Balak was a king of Moabites. When the Israelites left Egypt under the leadership of Moses, king Balak feared the Israelites and wanted to destroy them, like king Herod who feared the birth of the Messiah. To accomplish his purpose, Balak summoned a famous prophet Balaam to place a curse on Israel. Balaam was an interesting character; he was a non-Israelite, and a practitioner of enchantment. He was capable of doing both good and evil. Balaam, the prophet, came from the east along with two servants, thereby, making the number three, like the Magi. And when he came, instead of cursing Israel, he foiled king Balak’s efforts by blessing Israel and foretelling about the future greatness of Israel and the rise of its royal ruler, He prophesied and said, “A star will come forth from Jacob, and a scepter will rise from Israel.” The wicked king Balak, like king Herod, sought to use a magus to destroy his enemy, but his efforts were foiled.
Sunday Homilies; John Rose
Journeys
Marco Polo journeyed to India and China; Christopher Columbus journeyed to America; Admiral Byrd journeyed to the South Pole; Armstrong journeyed to the moon. They all undertook daring adventures. Likewise, The Magi, as narrated in the Gospel, journeyed to find the new born babe, Jesus. Leaving the security of their homeland, they ventured forth into a strange country in order to find the Saviour. Like all men, these astrologers too were in constant search after human fulfillment, but they believed that only in the Saviour they could finally find what they had been searching for all their lives. We too are making our individual journeys, searching after something which alone will give meaning to our existence; we are searching for something permanent and eternal. Happily for us, by the gift of faith in Christ which we already possess, we are in no doubt that we can find our perfect fulfillment only in Jesus. But we need a guide for our spiritual journey as the Magi needed a star to guide them to Jesus. Our guiding star is obviously the divine teachings of Christ. The more truly we follow our Lord’s teachings in daily life, the more surely we will encounter him and the more easily he will be able to reveal himself to us.
Vima Dasan in ‘His Word Lives’
The Impossible Dream
God does not draw drafts of divine plans, but plants dreams in human hearts. Jacob, Daniel, Joseph of the Old Testament and Joseph of Nazareth nursed dreams and cooperated with God to turn dreams into reality. Jesus himself sowed a beautiful dream in human hearts: the kingdom of God, a new world order. The ‘I have a dream’ speech of Martin Luther King Jr. delivered during the Civil Rights March on Aug. 28, 1963, changed the course of history for Afro-Americans. Two months later, John F. Kennedy said in Dublin, “We need men and women who can dream of things that never were.” Both were murdered. But their dreams never die. A young Spaniard called Francis once dreamt that he carried an Indian on his shoulders. Confiding in his friend Laynez, he said, “Do you know what I dreamt? That I was trying to hoist an Indian on my shoulders, and he was such a dead weight I couldn’t lift him!” Francis Xavier arrived in India in 1541 to lift Indians for an Epiphany-experience. The New Year calls for new dreams. And dreams call for a spirit of daring and striving to do! May we be filled with that spirit this New Year.
The Gift of the Magi
The story concerns a young married couple named Jim and Della. They are poor but much in love with each other. As Christmas approaches, Della wonders what to get Jim for Christmas. She would like to give him a chain for his gold watch, but she doesn’t have enough money. Then she gets an idea. She has beautiful long hair. She decides to cut off her hair and sell them to buy the chain for Jim’s watch. On Christmas Eve she is returning home. In her hand is a beautiful box containing a gold chain which she has purchased with her hair. Suddenly Della begins to worry. She knows Jim admired her long hair, and she wonders if he will be disappointed that she cut it and sold it. Only time will tell. Della climbs the final flight of stairs leading to their tiny apartment. She unlocks the door and finds Jim waiting. In his hand is a neatly wrapped box containing the gift he has purchased for her. When Jim sees Della’s short hair, tears begin to form in his eyes. But he says nothing. He chokes back the tears and gives her the box. When Della opens it, she can’t believe what she sees. There in the box is a set of beautiful combs for her long hair. And when Jim opens his gift, he too can hardly believe his eyes. There inside the box is a beautiful chain for his gold watch. Only then does Della realize that Jim sold his gold watch to buy the combs for her hair. -Some people think the surprise ending of the story is tragic. But most people consider it beautiful. What makes it beautiful is not the gifts, but the love that the gifts symbolize.
O. Henry
Returning from exile the deported Jews have set out on a journey to Jerusalem, a Jerusalem lit by the multiple candles of the rebuilt temple. The prophet looks beyond Jerusalem, to a city beyond this, not to the earthly city but one that the Lord will build, to which all people are welcome to journey. This city will be the city of the kingdom of God built on faith. Already the prophet believes that all kinds of people from all over the world, from every tribe and nation are on the move towards this heavenly Jerusalem.
The Quest
Once upon a time, in a far off land deep in shadow, there lived two orphans who were very unhappy living in shadowland. One day they decided to leave their homeland and journey beyond the grey mountains until they would come face to face with the light that makes colours. So while the rest of the country was fast asleep in their grey beds, they packed their few belongings in a knapsack and set off on their quest to discover the light and bring it back to shadowland. – Most of the stories we remember from our own childhood are stories of quests where the hero leaves the world of the familiar and sets out for an unknown country in search of something special or someone special. Many of our great religious stories follow the same pattern. Does our faith journey lead us on such a quest?
- Denis McBride in ‘Seasons of the Word’
Adventurers
When pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager made their historic flight in 1986 with their spindly Voyager aircraft, the whole world followed it with excitement. For nine days a sky-watch was kept tracking their first non-stop global flight without refueling. Achievers and risk-takers like Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager have always fascinated us. Marco Polo journeying to India and China, Christopher Columbus coming to America, Admiral Byrd going to the South Pole, our Astronauts flying to the moon: such adventurers have always aroused our admiration and our skepticism. – It was no different at the time of the Magi in today’s gospel story. To the cynical observer the Magi must have seemed foolish to go following a star. These astrologers had to be a little crazy leaving the security of their homeland to venture forth into a strange country presided by a madman like Herod. Nevertheless, to the person with the eyes of faith, the Magi had discovered an immense secret. They found not only the secret of the star, but the secret of the whole universe –the secret of God’s incredible love for his people. For the child they found was no ordinary child but the very Son of God become man.
- Albert Cylwicki in ‘His Word Resounds’
Star of Bethlehem
Gordon Wilson’s daughter was killed by a bomb in Enniskillen on Remembrance Day 1987. Instead of calling for revenge, he forgave her killers and began a campaign for peace and reconciliation. He said: “I am a very ordinary sort of man. I have few personal ambitions and no political aspirations. I just want to live and let live. Life has been kind to me in the main, and I have tried to live by the Good Book. I do not profess to be a good man, but I aim to be. I would like to leave the world a better place than I found it, but I have no exaggerated ideas of my ability to do so. I have hitched my wagon to a star, a star of hope, the star of Bethlehem.”
- Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies’
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1. I want to start this morning by taking a short poll. First: How many of you still have your Christmas Tree up? Second: What do you have on the top of your Christmas tree, a star or an angel. How many of you have stars on top of your tree? How many of you have angels?
The reason I asked the first question is: Christmas, from the Christian perspective isn't truly over until January 6th or Epiphany, the day we traditionally celebrate the visit by the Wise Men. The reason I asked the second question is: I think there are two types of people. Some are star people and some are angel people.
Biblically, the Angel represents those who had been waiting for the Messiah, for a sign from God, for a long time, like the Shepherds. They knew what the Angel meant when he told them about a Savior, a Messiah. They remembered the old prophecies. They remembered with anticipation.
And the Star was for those who were still searching, those still unsure, those still with questions, those on a quest to find out about this mystery and message from God wrapped up in human flesh and swaddling clothes.
A friend reminded me that God sent both the Angel and the Star because God always meets us where we are...
Never leave dry dog food or cat food outside overnight. If you do, chances are that sooner or later something other than your furry family member will amble up to help themselves.
One of the most startling creatures to belly-up to the kibble buffet is the opossum. 'Possums aren't particularly dangerous to humans (unless they are rabid). But they have mastered the art of looking scary. Flick on the porch light and catch a possum snout down in the dog's bowl and you will be rewarded with glowing red eyes, snarling sharp teeth, grisly growling, and a horrible hissing sound. Not to mention the fact that a possum looks a whole lot like a huge, giant rat. It's actually a marsupial, more related to a kangaroo or a koala bear. Opossums are to koala bears what raccoons are to red panda bears. But after one nighttime encounter with a startled opossum, you'll think "Rat."
But if you step slowly outside to confront the critter, instead of rushing it and leaving it feeling cornered, the possum is far more likely to suddenly shift from scary to supine. The phrase, "playing possum" comes from the very real defensive technique possum's employ when they are confronted by a larger opponent. They fall over, go stiff, and for all the world, look as dead as a doornail. The possum's strategy is that if they look like they are dead and gone, then their enemy will give them a sniff or two and then leave them there to rot. When the danger - whether a person, a dog, a cat, or a car - has passed, the possum miraculously comes back to life and trundles off - after finishing the remainder of Fido's food, of course.
"Playing possum" is a trait human's have mastered as well...
_____________________________2. Where Are You Looking for God?
We begin with a story from a collection of the lives of saints - the saints of Islam - which concerns a king of Balkh (now northern Afghanistan), named Ebrahim ibn Adam. Ebrahim was wealthy according to every earthly measure. At the same time, however, he sincerely and restlessly strove to be wealthy spiritually as well.
"One night the king was roused from sleep by a fearful stumping on the roof above his bed. Alarmed, he shouted: 'Who's there?' 'A friend,' came the reply from the roof. 'I've lost my camel.' Perturbed by such stupidity, Ebrahim screamed: 'You fool! Are you looking for a camel on the roof?' 'You fool!' the voice from the roof answered. 'Are you looking for God in silk clothing, and lying on a golden bed?' The story goes on, according to Jesuit theologian Walter G. Burghardt, to tell how these simple words filled the king with such terror that he arose from his sleep to become a most remarkable saint (Still Proclaiming your Wonders: Homilies for the Eighties [New York: Paulist Press, 1984], 55).
The camel on the roof raises the Epiphany question, Where are you looking for God? This compelling question of life properly stands at the beginning of a new year, just as Where have you found God? nicely serves as a question to cap a year's closing.
Leonard Sweet
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3. The Parable of the Birds
Do you remember Louis Cassels' famous parable of the birds? It was Christmas Eve and the man's wife and children were getting ready to go to church. He wasn't going. "I simply can't understand what Christmas is all about, this claim that God became man," he told his wife.
It had been snowing all day and it was beginning to snow harder as the man's family rode off to church without him. He drew a chair up to the fireplace and began to read his newspaper.
A few minutes later, there was a thudding sound at the kitchen window. When he went to investigate, he found a flock of birds out in the back yard. They had been caught in the storm, and in a desperate search for shelter, were trying to fly through the kitchen window. He was a very kind man so he tried to think of something he could do so the birds wouldn't freeze. "The barn!" he thought. That would be a nice shelter.
It had been snowing all day and it was beginning to snow harder as the man's family rode off to church without him. He drew a chair up to the fireplace and began to read his newspaper.
A few minutes later, there was a thudding sound at the kitchen window. When he went to investigate, he found a flock of birds out in the back yard. They had been caught in the storm, and in a desperate search for shelter, were trying to fly through the kitchen window. He was a very kind man so he tried to think of something he could do so the birds wouldn't freeze. "The barn!" he thought. That would be a nice shelter.
He put on his coat and overshoes and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn and opened the door wide and turned on the light. But the birds didn't come in. Food will bring them in he thought. So he hurried back to the house for bread crumbs which he sprinkled on the snow to make a trail to the barn.
But the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around waving his arms. They scattered in every direction except into the warm, lighted barn. "They find me a strange and terrifying creature," he said to himself, "and I can't seem to think of any way to let them know they can trust me."
Puzzled and dismayed, he pondered this thought, "If only I could be a bird myself for the moment, perhaps I could lead them to safety." If only I could be a bird myself . . .
Just then the church bells began to ring, pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. The man stood silently for a minute, then sank to his knees in the snow.
"Now I understand," he whispered as he lifted his gaze to the sky. "Now I see why You had to become man."
Louis Cassels, The Parable of the Birds
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4. How Do We Hold onto the Feeling?
Just a few days later, the needles are falling, the poinsettias are drooping, and the cookies are stale. How do we hold onto the feeling? How do we hold onto the warmth, the wonder, the welcome of Christmas?
* Christmas letters - offering graceful glimpses of old friends;
* That rare mother/daughter afternoon, creating the most perfect Christmas of our lives;
* American soldiers sharing Christmas with war-scarred children;
* Virginia neighbors sharing love with a Pentagon widow;
* A Christmas pageant, so full of joy and giggles and energy, that I know God was smiling;
* A rippling harp lifting human voices to heaven;
* That sea of candles, shimmering with hope and memory, in the dark womb of this sanctuary.
Yes, my friends, if we try, we can hold onto the feelings, the images, the memories. But we will need to struggle to let this fresh incarnation, this tangible, touchable God carry us through the rest of the year. For the way things really are has already come crashing down upon us. This morning, before the baby has even digested his first decent meal, the gospel writer has us running - fleeing from danger and death and despair. Yes, Matthew forces us to deal with the rest of the Christmas story. And the reality is that the incarnation of good, of God, leads quickly to the incarnation of evil - not only 2,000 years ago, but today, here, now.
Susan R. Andrews
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5. Letting Go of Treasures
Giving with a glad and generous heart has a way of routing out the tough old miser within us. Even the poor need to know that they can give. Just the very act of letting go of money or some other treasure does something within us. That something is it destroys the demon, greed."
Richard Foster
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6. As Long As There Is Hope
A few years ago the psychology department of Duke University carried on an interesting experiment. They wanted to see how long rats could swim. In one container they placed a rat for whom there was no possibility of escape. He swam a few moments and then ducked his head to drown. In the other container they made the hope of escape a possibility for the rat. The rat swam for several hours before finally giving up. The conclusion of the experiment was just the opposite of our common conclusion. We usually say, "As long as there is life, there is hope." The Duke experiment proved, "As long as there is hope, there is life."
Brett Blair
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7. A Legend of the Magi and the True Story
There is a beautiful old tradition about the star in the East. The story says that when the star had finished its task of directing the wise men to the baby, it fell from the sky and dropped down into the city well of Bethlehem. According to some legend, that star is there to this day, and can sometimes still be seen by those whose hearts are pure and clean. It's a pretty story. It kind of makes you feel warm inside.
There are other legends about this story of the wise men from the east. For instance, how many wise men were there? In the old days in the east, they believed that there were 12 men who made the journey, but now most everyone agrees there were three. One old legend even tells us the names of the three. Melchior was the oldest of the group, with a full beard. He gave the baby the gift of gold. Balthasar also had a beard, but was not as old as Melchior. He presented the gift of myrrh. The youngest of the three was Casper, who had no beard yet, but did present the gift of frankincense to the baby. Yet another legend goes on to tell us that after seeing the baby, the three continued traveling as far as Spain, telling the world the good news about what they had seen. These stories bring the wise men a little more to life, and add some color to the meaning of Christmas. They can also get in the way.
The problem with legends is that sometimes they add color to stories that don't need any additional color. In fact, sometimes legends are so colorful, they are unbelievable, and can end up making the entire story unbelievable as well. Kind of like that star falling in the well. It makes you warm inside. It also makes you wonder.
I am not out to ban legends, but I do think it might be worthwhile to hear the story one more time, the way it was told the first time. I need to hear it anyway, and you are welcome to listen along if you like.
John B. Jamison
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8. Do It Anyway!
Herod was a power-hungry ruler whose actions reeked of evil. We can't explain his actions, or the actions of anybody else who acts in evil ways.
And despite our best efforts to create an atmosphere of cooperation and kindness, it is unrealistic to think we are going to eliminate from the face of the earth divisive, rude, evil people. Our only choice, unless we want to give in or give up, is to work around the evil. Yes, this is an imperfect world, but that does not relieve us of our responsibility to work for what is good and right. If anything, the evil present in our world only accentuates the need for us to do something.
Someone wrote a short piece about rejecting the nay-sayers and taking the higher road. They titled it "Anyway." Here it is:
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway!
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway!If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway!
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway!
Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway!
The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds. Think big anyway!
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for some underdogs anyway!
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway!
People really need help but may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway!
Give the world the best you have and you will get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have any way!
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9. “Because you never know what’s going to happen next.” Little Amy was looking through the family album and found a picture of a man sitting behind a cow. All that was visible was the man’s legs and feet. When her photographer uncle who owned a photo studio came to visit her mother, Amy told him, “This is the only picture of my grandfather that we have. So please remove the cow so that I may see what he looked like." It is the same curiosity which led the magi to follow the star of Bethlehem. A survey was made among school children asking why they enjoyed reading Harry Potter novels and watching Harry Potter movies. The most common answer was, “Because you never know what’s going to happen next.” The same element of suspense marked the journey of the Magi, who never knew what road the Spirit was going to take them down next. Today’s readings invite us to have the curiosity of Amy and the school students so that we may discover the ‘epiphany’ of our God in everyone and every event, everywhere.
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10. An epiphany in the airport. We spot what looks like a mom, a dad, and three teenage daughters. The girls and their mom are each holding a bouquet of roses. We are wondering what the story is. Whom are they expecting? The dad keeps looking at his watch. The mom keeps turning her head to make sure she hears each airport announcement. Finally the door opens. First come the "rushers"--men and women in suits with briefcases and bags over their shoulders, rushing towards phones, bathrooms, and their cars or rent-a-cars. We're still wondering and watching to learn whom this family we've been studying is there to meet. Then out come a young Marine, his wife, and their obviously brand-new baby. The three girls run to the couple and the baby. Then Mom. Dad. Hugs. Kisses. Embraces. "OOPS! The flowers!" But the baby is the center of attention. Each member of the family gets closer and closer to the mother and each opens the bundle in pink to have a first peek at this new life on the planet. We're seeing it from a distance. It's better than the evening news. Then we notice several other smiling people also watching the same scene. There are many other hugging scenes, people meeting people, but this is the big one. We're smiling too. A tear of joy. What wonderful moment we are photographing into our memory. We're thinking, "Family! Children! Grandchildren!" This is what life is all about. We're experiencing an epiphany. Life is filled with them. Praise God!
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11. The Sunday school teacher asked the first graders, "What gifts did the
wise men bring the Christ Child?" A smart boy replied, "Uh, gold,
Frankenstein and mermaids." "What did the two-year old child Jesus say to the Magi?" Another boy said: "That big animal, that's what I want! I want that camel!"
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12: A little girl and her mother were looking at the Nativity scene. The mother was explaining that the Wise Men were presenting their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn King. The little girl looked in great adoration at the babe in the manger, then turning to her mother, thoughtfully asked, "Why didn’t they bring Him a bed.?"
*******
From Fr Tony Kadavil:
1: “Because you never know what’s going to happen next!” A survey was made among school children asking the question why they enjoyed reading Harry Potter novels and watching Harry Potter movies. The most common answer was, “Because you never know what’s going to happen next!” The same element of suspense and discovery marked the journey of the Magi, who never knew what road the Spirit was going to take them down next. Half a billion people all around the world watched with suspense and thrill when three astronauts in Apollo 8 landed first time on the moon on July 20th, 1969.When pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager made their historic flight in 1986 with their spindly Voyager aircraft, the whole world followed it with excitement. For nine days a sky-watch was kept tracking their first non-stop global flight without refueling. The same elements of suspense and discovery were there when Marco Polo journeyed to India and China, when Christopher Columbus travelled to America, and when Admiral Byrd went to the South Pole. Such adventurers have always aroused our admiration and curiosity. The magi-astrologers described in today’s Gospel had to be a little crazy leaving the security of their homeland to venture forth into a strange country presided over by a mad king like Herod, in search of a Divine child. But their great Faith, curiosity, and adventurous spirit enabled them to discover the secret of the whole universe – the secret of God’s incredible love for His people – because the Child they found was no ordinary child, but the very Son of God become man. Today’s readings invite us to have the curiosity of the school students and the Faith and adventurous spirit of the magi so that we may discover the “epiphany” of our God in everyone and every event, everywhere. (adapted from Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds).
5) An epiphany in the airport. We spot what looks like a family – a mom, a dad, and three teenage daughters. The girls and their mom are each holding a bouquet of roses. We are wondering what the story is. Whom are they expecting? The dad keeps looking at his watch. The mom keeps turning her head to make sure she hears each airport announcement. Finally, the door opens. First come the “rushers”–men and women in suits with briefcases and bags over their shoulders, rushing towards phones, bathrooms, and their cars or rent-a-cars. We’re still wondering and watching to learn whom this family we’ve been studying is there to meet. Then out come a young Marine, his wife, and their obviously brand-new baby. The three girls run to the couple and the baby. Then Mom. Dad. Hugs. Kisses. Embraces. “OOPS! The flowers!” But the baby is the center of attention. Each member of the family gets closer and closer to the mother and each opens the bundle in pink to have a first peek at this new life on the planet. We’re seeing it from a distance. It’s better than the evening news. Then we notice several other smiling people also watching the same scene. There are many other hugging scenes, people meeting people, but this is the big one. We’re smiling too. A tear of joy. What wonderful moment we are photographing into our memory. We’re thinking, “Family! Children! Grandchildren!” This is what life is all about.” We’re experiencing an epiphany. Life is filled with them. Praise God!
*******
From Fr Tony Kadavil:
1: “Because you never know what’s going to happen next!” A survey was made among school children asking the question why they enjoyed reading Harry Potter novels and watching Harry Potter movies. The most common answer was, “Because you never know what’s going to happen next!” The same element of suspense and discovery marked the journey of the Magi, who never knew what road the Spirit was going to take them down next. Half a billion people all around the world watched with suspense and thrill when three astronauts in Apollo 8 landed first time on the moon on July 20th, 1969.When pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager made their historic flight in 1986 with their spindly Voyager aircraft, the whole world followed it with excitement. For nine days a sky-watch was kept tracking their first non-stop global flight without refueling. The same elements of suspense and discovery were there when Marco Polo journeyed to India and China, when Christopher Columbus travelled to America, and when Admiral Byrd went to the South Pole. Such adventurers have always aroused our admiration and curiosity. The magi-astrologers described in today’s Gospel had to be a little crazy leaving the security of their homeland to venture forth into a strange country presided over by a mad king like Herod, in search of a Divine child. But their great Faith, curiosity, and adventurous spirit enabled them to discover the secret of the whole universe – the secret of God’s incredible love for His people – because the Child they found was no ordinary child, but the very Son of God become man. Today’s readings invite us to have the curiosity of the school students and the Faith and adventurous spirit of the magi so that we may discover the “epiphany” of our God in everyone and every event, everywhere. (adapted from Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds).
2: A woman among the Magi? Renowned Gospel of Matthew professor, Dominican friar and priest, Rev. Benedict Thomas Viviano has a new Biblical theory that may change nativity scenes across the globe: there was one Wise Woman (or more) among the Wise Men. (https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/17405/viviano_writes_about_a_woman_magi). Viviano’s original theory was published in 2011 in Studies of Matthew by Leuven University Press. It’s “perfectly plausible,” he argues, that Matthew would have understood the magi as some sort of Eastern sages. “On the other hand,” Viviano suggests, “the masculine plural magoi does not close the question of gender. … The main reason to think of the presence of one or more women among the magi is the background story of the queen of Sheba, with her quest for Israelite royal wisdom, her reverent awe, and her three gifts fit for a king.” Viviano’s second reason to suspect the presence of the feminine, he says, is the Israelite tradition of personifying wisdom as a woman (Proverbs 8:22-30; 9:1-6; Book of Sirach, 24). Viviano’s third argument for his female-among-the-magi cause is that Matthew’s Gospel later characterizes Jesus as embodying wisdom, which Jewish literature considers female and even terms Lady Wisdom. The passages Viviano refers to are Matthew, Chapter 11:19 and 25-30. What difference would it have made if there had been a woman among the magi? A women’s magazine says: “They would have come before the birth of Jesus, brought provisions for the child and his mother and the woman would have served as a midwife!”
3: Artaban the fourth Wise Man: In 1895, Henry van Dyke wrote the story, “The Other Wise Man,” telling of a fourth wise man called Artaban. Our hero is not mentioned in the Gospel because he missed the caravan. He got to Bethlehem too late to see the Baby Jesus. But Artaban did make it in time, using one of his gifts for the newborn King to save one of the Holy Innocents by bribing a soldier. For 33 years Artaban searched for Jesus. He did not find Jesus, but all the while the Fourth wise man used the precious gifts he had brought for the King to feed the hungry and help the poor. Then one day in Jerusalem Artaban saw the “King of the Jews” being crucified. He started to offer his last gift for the King, a great pearl, to the soldiers as ransom for Him. But then he saw a girl being sold into slavery to pay family debts. Artaban gave his pearl to buy freedom for the girl. Suddenly the earth quaked as Jesus died on the cross and a stone struck Artaban. Dying, he heard a Voice saying: “When you helped the least of my children, you helped me. Meet me in Heaven!” Artaban, the fourth Wise Man, had been making God present in his community for years by helping others. God asks each of us on the feast of Epiphany to be a fourth Wise Man by becoming God’s epiphanies, making His love present in the world around us by our acts of love and kindness.
4) “I want the big cow!”: It was an excited little girl who told me this story. The first two wise men got down from their camels and offered their precious gifts to the Baby. He declined them. When the Baby Jesus declined the gift of the third of the also, the exasperated wise man asked, “Then what do you want?” The Child Jesus answered quickly and with a warm smile, “Your big cow!”
5) An 8-year-old asked, “How come the kings brought perfume to Jesus? What kind of gift is that for a baby?” His 9-year-old sister answered, “Haven’t you ever smelled a barn? With dirty animals around, Mary needed something to freshen the air.”
6) A husband asked his wife, “Why would God give the wise men a star to guide them?” She replied, “Because God knows men are too proud to ask directions.”
7) Three Wise Women: While they were talking about the story of the three wise men, a woman asked her parish priest, this question, “Do you know why God gave the star to the wise men?” When he professed his ignorance, she told him: “God knows men are too proud to ask directions. If there had been three wise women instead of three wise men, they would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and given some practical gifts!”
8) Epiphany of a Sunday school boy: A little boy returned from Sunday school with a new perspective on the Christmas story. He had learned all about the Wise Men from the East who brought gifts to the Baby Jesus. He was so excited that he could hardly wait to tell his parents. As soon as he arrived home, he immediately began, “I learned all about the very First Christmas in Sunday school today! There wasn’t a Santa Claus way back then, so these three skinny guys on camels had to deliver all the toys!” He further continued, “And Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with his nose so bright also wasn’t there yet, so they had to have this big spotlight in the sky to find their way around!”
9) Epiphany of a pilot: A helicopter was flying around above Seattle one day when an electrical malfunction disabled all the aircraft’s electronic navigation and communications equipment. Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter’s position and course to steer to the airport. The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign, and held it in the helicopter’s window. The pilot’s sign said “Where am I?” in large letters. People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it in a building window. Their sign said, “You are in a helicopter.” The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course to steer to Sea-Tac airport, and landed safely. After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked the pilot how the “You are in a helicopter” sign helped determine their position. The pilot responded, “I knew that had to be the Microsoft building because, similar to their help-lines, they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer.”
24 Additional anecdotes:
1) The wise men: There is a beautiful old tradition about the star in the East. The story says that when the star had finished its task of directing the wise men to the baby, it fell from the sky and dropped down into the city well of Bethlehem. According to some legends, that star is there to this day and can sometimes still be seen by those whose hearts are pure and clean. It’s a pretty story. It kind of makes you feel warm inside. There are other legends about this story of the wise men from the east. For instance, how many wise men were there? In the old days in the east, they believed that there were 12 men who made the journey, but now most everyone agrees there were three. One old legend even tells us the names of the three. Melchior was the oldest of the group, with a full beard. He gave the baby the gift of gold. Balthazar also had a beard, but was not as old as Melchior. He presented the gift of myrrh. The youngest of the three was Casper, who had no beard yet, but did present the gift of frankincense to the baby. Yet another legend goes on to tell us that, after seeing the baby, the three continued traveling as far as Spain, telling the world the good news about what they had seen. These stories bring the wise men a little more to life and add some color to the meaning of Christmas. They can also get in the way. The problem with legends is that sometimes they add color to stories that don’t need any additional color. In fact, sometimes legends are so colorful, they are unbelievable, and can end up making the entire story unbelievable as well — kind of like that star falling in the well. It makes you warm inside. It also makes you wonder. I am not out to ban legends, but I do think it might be worthwhile to hear the story one more time, the way it was told the first time….
2) Epiphany of Christ “in his most distressing disguises.” Mother Teresa of Calcutta (canonized October 19, 2016 by Pope Francis as St. Teresa of Calcutta) died of a heart attack. She has been lauded as the “Saint of the Gutters,” as one of the “greatest women of the twentieth century” and as “one who made it her life’s work to care for the poorest of the poor.” Never stinting in her commitment to Christ, especially to “Christ in his most distressing disguises” (e.g. the sick, the dying, the outcasts, lepers, people with A.I.D.S, etc.), Mother Teresa described herself as “a pencil in God’s hands. “As long as God keeps pouring in the ink, I will continue to let God write with me and through me.” Through this physically diminutive, spiritual giant, God has indeed writ large. Through her, God has continued to reveal in our midst the mystery or secret plan of salvation of which the author of Ephesians writes in today’s second reading. St. Teresa of Calcutta understood that there were no second-class citizens in the people of God. Nor is anyone an afterthought in God’s saving plan. The small nun who ministered to the world’s poor also left the world a legacy and a challenge. At the beginning of this new year, contemporary believers might take time to consider if her legacy will live on in them and how that challenge can be met. Am I willing to accept and cherish absolutely everyone I meet as a co-heir, as a member of the same body and as a sharer of God’s promises? If so, then God’s secret plan continues to be revealed in me; if not, then I have darkened and obscured the manifestation of love and light that we celebrate today. (Sanchez Files).
3) Epiphany of adventurers: When pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager made their historic flight in 1986 with their spindly Voyager aircraft, the whole world followed it with excitement. For nine days a sky-watch was kept, tracking their first non-stop global flight without refueling. Achievers and risk-takers like Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager have always fascinated us. Marco Polo journeying to India and China, Christopher Columbus coming to America, Admiral Byrd going to the South Pole, our Astronauts flying to the moon — such adventurers have always aroused our admiration and our skepticism. It was no different at the time of the Magi in today’s Gospel story. To the cynical observer, the Magi must have seemed foolish to go following a star. These astrologers had to be a little crazy leaving the security of their homeland to venture forth into a strange country ruled by a madman like Herod. Nevertheless, to the person with the eyes of Faith, the Magi had discovered an immense secret. They found not only the secret of the star, but the secret of the whole universe –the secret of God’s incredible love for his people. For the child they found was no ordinary child but the very Son of God become man (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds).
4) My Star: Consider the true story of a young man named Tony. He travelled all over the world, appearing widely on stage and on television as a drummer in a world-famous music group. Then one day Tony felt called to the priesthood. When he resigned from the music group to enter a seminary, some people thought him to be a fool. The story could end here. And if it did, some would consider it to be a sad story. It would be the story of a young man who let a dream slip through his fingers. But the story doesn’t end here. Tony’s now a priest in the diocese of Dallas. And he’s tremendously happy. Jesus will someday say to him what he said to Artaban: “You’ve been helping me all your life, Tony. What you did for your Parishioners, you did for me.” (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies).
6) O Henry’s story of real love through sacrificial sharing: “Gift of the Magi”: It is about a young couple who were poor. She had long beautiful, brown hair and used to look longingly at some tortoise-shell combs in the shop window. He had an old pocket watch that belonged to his grandfather. He used to look at a gold watch chain that would have gone well with the watch, in the shop window. But they were poor newlyweds and window shopping was all they could afford. That Christmas she cut and sold her beautiful hair to a wig maker so that she could buy her husband the gold watch chain. He, meanwhile, pawned his prized watch to buy her the beautiful tortoise-shell combs. Each gave up what they most prized to buy something the other wanted. (summarized y Fr. Peter DeSousa).
7) The true epiphany: A rabbi put the following question to his disciples, “How can we determine the hour of dawn, when the night ends and the day begins?” One student replied, “When from a distance you can distinguish between a sheep and a dog.” “No,” said the rabbi. Another student quickly offered, “When you can tell a fig tree from a grapevine.” “No,” repeated the rabbi. “Then tell us, please,” asked the students. Replied the rabbi, “Darkness ends and day begins when you can look into the faces of all other human beings and you have enough light in you to recognize them as your brothers and sisters.”
8) Run away to return: John Thomas Randolph offers this modern story of running and returning to illustrate our Lord’s circumstances. Here is the difference between cowardice and heroism. The coward runs away and stays away. The hero runs away but he always returns at the appropriate time. I have a biography of General Douglas MacArthur that was written by Bob Considine. The picture on the front cover shows the general standing like a boulder, looking off into the distance, with that famous corncob pipe in his mouth. You can almost hear him telling the people of the Philippines, “I came through and I shall return.” Ordered to make a strategic withdrawal, his promise to return became the rallying cry for a whole country. MacArthur had to “runaway” for a while, but he would “return” and it was the returning that mattered most. Jesus ran away into Egypt, but he returned! All of our running away, as Christians, should be with the ultimate goal of returning. Why do we run away? When I look at my own experience, I find that I usually run away for one of three reasons: I am frightened ; I am fatigued; or I am frustrated. Isn’t that why you run away too?
9) “I hope it will identify me with the Gospel that I preach.” In October 1989, a new star was added to the 1900 stars on the famed sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard. The new star was placed near the stars of Julie Andrews and Wayne Newton. The new star, as curious as it seems, was the late evangelist Billy Graham, (died February 21, 2018), who preached the Gospel to more than 100 million people around the world. Forty years ago, he refused to have his name on a star, but he reconsidered it in 1989. He said, “I hope it will identify me with the Gospel that I preach.” At the unveiling he added, “We should put our eyes on the star, which is the Lord.”
10) Epiphany of a protecting God: The British express train raced through the night, its powerful headlight piercing the darkness. Queen Victoria was a passenger on the train. Suddenly the engineer saw a startling sight. Revealed in the beam of the engine’s light was a strange figure in a black cloak standing in the middle of the tracks and waving its arms. The engineer grabbed for the brake and brought the train to a grinding halt. He and his fellow trainmen clambered down to see what had stopped them. But they could find no trace of the strange figure. On a hunch the engineer walked a few yards further up the tracks. Suddenly he stopped and stared into the fog in horror. A bridge had been washed out in the middle and ahead of them it had toppled into a swollen stream. If the engineer had not heeded the ghostly figure, his train would have plummeted down into the stream. While the bridge and tracks were being repaired, the crew made a more intensive search for the strange flagman. But not until they got to London did they solve the mystery At the base of the engine’s head lamp the engineer discovered a huge dead moth. He looked at it a moment, then on impulse wet its wings and pasted it to the glass of the lamp. Climbing back in to his cab, he switched on the light and saw again the “flagman” he had seen in the beam, seconds before the train was due to reach the washed-out bridge. In the fog, it appeared to be a phantom figure, waving its arms. When Queen Victoria was told of the strange happening, she said, “I’m sure it was no accident. It was God’s way of protecting us.” No, the figure the engineer saw in the headlight’s beam was not an angel…and yet God, quite possibly through the ministry of His unseen angels, had placed the moth on the headlight lens exactly when and where it was needed. (Billy Graham from ‘Unto the Hills’)
11) “The Star:” In Arthur C. Clarke’s short story, “The Star”, we read about a Jesuit astrophysicist who makes a space trip with other scientists to a distant galaxy called the Phoenix Nebula. There they chance upon a solitary planet still orbiting the remnant of a central sun, which had exploded thousands of years ago. The explorers land their spacecraft on this planet and examine the scorched surface caused by that cosmic detonation. They discover a melted-down monolithic marker at the entrance of a great vault in which they find the carefully stored treasures and records of an advanced civilization. On their return trip to earth in our own galaxy, the Jesuit astrophysicist calculates the exact time when the light from this cosmic explosion in the Phoenix Nebula reached earth. It was the date of Christ’s birth when the light from that fire was seen as a bright new star appearing in the East. But now that he had solved an ancient mystery, he had a greater mystery to grapple with. How could a loving God allow a whole planet of intelligent being to be given a galactic conflagration, so that the symbol of their passing might shine above Bethlehem at his Son’s birth? This science-fiction story about the star of Bethlehem has its source in today’s Gospel. Mathew’s narration of the Magi uses the star as its central symbol. From its rising in the East to its coming to a standstill over Bethlehem, the star leads and guides the astrologers. (Albert Cylwicki in His Word Resounds).
12) The night the stars fell: One summer night in a seaside cottage, a small boy felt himself lifted from bed. Dazed with sleep, he heard his mother murmur about the lateness of the hour, heard his father laugh. Then he was borne in his father’s arms, with the swiftness of a dream, down the porch steps, out onto the beach. Overhead the sky blazed with stars. “Watch!” his father said. And incredibly, as he spoke, one of the stars moved. In a streak of golden fire, it flashed across the astonished heavens. And before the wonder of this could fade, another star leaped from its place, and then another, plunging toward the restless sea. “What is it?” the child whispered. “Shooting stars,” his father said. “They come every year on certain nights in August. I thought you’d like to see the show.” That was all: just an unexpected glimpse of something haunting and mysterious and beautiful. But, back in bed, the child stared for a long time into the dark, rapt with the knowledge that all around the quiet house the night was full of the silent music of the falling stars. Decades have passed, but I remember that night still, because I was the fortunate seven-year-old whose father believed that a new experience was more important for a small boy than an unbroken night’s sleep. No doubt in my childhood I had the usual quota of playthings, but these are forgotten now. What I remember is the night the stars fell …(Arthur Gordon from A Touch of Wonder).
13) A new Magi story: In this story the three wise men, Gaspar, Balthassar and Melchior, were thee different ages. Gaspar was a young man, Balthassar a middle-aged man and Melchior an elderly man. They found a cave where the Holy One was and entered, one at a time, to do him homage. Melchior, the old man, entered first. He found an old man like himself in the cave. They shared stories and spoke of memory and gratitude. Middle-aged Balthassar entered next. He found a man his own age there. They spoke passionately about leadership and responsibility. Young Gaspar was the last to enter. He found a young prophet waiting for him. They spoke about reform and promise. Afterward when the three kings spoke to each other about their encounter with the Christ, they were shocked at each other’s stories. So they got their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh together and all three went into the cave. They found a Baby there, the infant Jesus only twelve days old. There is a deep message here. Jesus reveals himself to all people, at all stages of their lives, whether they are Jew or Gentile. (Fr. Pellegrino).
14) The whispering angel: The seventeenth century painter Guido Reni has left us a magnificent painting of Matthew. An angel is whispering to him various events in the life of Jesus. The attentive Evangelist is frantically writing down all that he is told. The tale will become his Gospel. A portion of those whispers is today’s story of the Epiphany. It is only Matthew who tells us this tale filled with wonder. Why the other Evangelists ignored this magical story, we will never know – at least this side of the grave. (Fr. Gilhooly).
15) The Star of Bethlehem: Gordon Wilson’s daughter was killed by a bomb in Enniskillen on Remembrance Day 1987. Instead of calling for revenge, he forgave her killers and began a campaign for peace and reconciliation. He said: “I am a very ordinary sort of man. I have few personal ambitions and no political aspirations. I just want to live and let live. Life has been kind to me in the main, and I have tried to live by the Good Book. I do not profess to be a good man, but I aim to be. I would like to leave the world a better place than I found it, but I have no exaggerated ideas of my ability to do so. I have hitched my wagon to a star, a star of hope, the star of Bethlehem. (Flor McCarthy in New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies; quoted by Fr. Botelho)
16) The New Age: Every year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, there is displayed, beneath the great Christmas tree, a beautiful eighteenth century Neapolitan nativity scene. In many ways it is a very familiar scene. The usual characters are all there: shepherds roused from sleep by the voices of angels; the exotic wise men from the East seeking, as Auden once put it, “how to be human now”; Joseph; Mary; the Babe — all are there, each figure an artistic marvel of wood, clay, and paint. There is, however, something surprising about this scene, something unexpected here, easily missed by the causal observer. What is strange here is that the stable, and the shepherds, and the cradle are set, not in the expected small town of Bethlehem, but among the ruins of mighty Roman columns. The fragile manger is surrounded by broken and decaying columns. The artists knew the meaning of this event: The Gospel, the birth of God’s new age, was also the death of the old world. Herods know in their souls what we perhaps have passed over too lightly: God’s presence in the world means finally the end of their own power. They seek not to preserve the birth of God’s new age, but to crush it. For Herod, the Gospel is news too bad to be endured, for Mary, Joseph, and all the other characters it is news too good to miss. Adapted from Thomas G. Long, “Something Is About To Happen” (Fr. Kayala).
17) Epiphany gift: Tolstoy once told the story about an old cobbler, Martin, who dreamt that Christ was going to visit him. All day he waited and watched but nothing extraordinary seemed to be happening. While he waited he gave hospitality to one person who was cold, to another who needed reconciliation, to another who needed clothing. At the end of the day, he was disappointed that Christ had not come. That night he had another dream, and all those to whom he gave hospitality returned and a voice said, “Martin, do you not know me? I am Jesus. What you did to the least of these you did to me. (Fr. Kayala)
18) Returning Social security check: They tell of a man in a small town in South Dakota who tried to give some money back to the Social Security Administration, but could not. At age 65 the man retired from his work as a farm laborer and moved into town. His retirement house was extremely modest, sparsely furnished, and simply kept. Most could not manage on his meagre minimum security check. At the end of the first month of collecting on Social security, this humble man went to the bank with five dollars in cash and told the teller he wanted to return some money because the government had given him more than he needed. With that request he “blew everybody in the bank away.” They explained to him that he couldn’t do that, that the government could give out social security funds, but that there was no program set-up for taking any of it back! There was no category for people who wanted to give any of their social security back to the government. Application: To receive something graciously from another is as much a gift as giving. (Gerard Fuller in Stories for all Seasons) (Fr. Kayala).
19) Epiphany under water: There was once a holy monk who lived in Egypt. One day a young man came to visit him. The young man asked: “Oh, holy man, I want to know how to find God.” The monk was muscular and burly. He said: “Do you really want to find God?” The young man answered: “Oh, but I do.” So the monk took the young man down to the river. Suddenly, the monk grabbed the young man by the neck and held his head under water. At first the young man thought the monk was giving him a special baptism. But when after one minute the monk didn’t let go, the young man began struggling. Still the monk wouldn’t release him. Second by second, the young man fought harder and harder. After three minutes, the monk pulled the young man out of the water and said: “When you desire God as much as you desired air, you will have the epiphany of God.”
20) Herod and Stalin – pride leading to destruction: Why did Herod try to destroy Jesus, but the Magi worshiped him? The difference can be summed up in one word: humility. The Magi had humility, Herod lacked it. And history tells us where that lack of humility landed him. Herod spent his life trying to keep everything under his control. He became pathologically suspicious. He ended up murdering his own wife and three of his sons, because he thought they were plotting against him. In fact, his whole life was a series of violent, horrible crimes. His tyrannical fear of losing control eventually made him universally hated, even by his closest collaborators. As he lay dying, he ordered a thousand of his best servants and ministers to be led into a stadium and slaughtered, because he wanted to be sure there was mourning and sadness in his kingdom upon his death. Joseph Stalin, the equally bloody tyrant of early Soviet Russia, followed a similar path. He climbed the ladder of success by lying, double-crossing, and murdering. And once he had reached the top, he systematically eliminated all potential rivals. But soon he began to think everyone was a potential rival. He sent his best friends to concentration camps in Siberia. He became so suspicious of plots against his life that he slept in a different corner of his house every night. He, too, died fearful, miserable, and half-crazed. These extreme examples illustrate the all-important fact that we are not God. God is God. We are not meant to control everything; we are meant to humbly follow Christ, to trust him, to kneel before him, like the Magi, and say with our lives, “Thy will be done, not mine; thy Kingdom come; not mine.” Herod couldn’t say that, Stalin couldn’t say that – the Magi could. They gave everything over to Christ. And they went home full of joy. (E- Priest).
21) God who guided the magi guides us, too, provided we trust him: We really need to let this truth sink in. It’s like the story of the rock climber. He was in the mountains, climbing alone (a bad idea). And it was getting late. The sun had just gone down, and the temperature was dropping fast. He was descending a section of rock that was inclined beyond the vertical, like the inside of a steep roof. He was deep in the shadows of cliffs. Suddenly, he slipped, lost his grip, and did a free fall of about forty feet before his rope caught on the last stay he had driven into the rock. He was hanging like a spider on a strand of web. He tried to climb up the rope, but at the end of the long day, he just didn’t have the strength. He was hanging there in the void. It was dark. It was cold. He had nowhere to turn. So even though he wasn’t a Church-going man, he said a prayer: “God, if you’re up there, please help me.” Much to his surprise, he heard an answer. It said, “Cut your rope.” He was surprised but overjoyed to get an answer, but he didn’t like the answer he got. He looked below him. Only darkness. It was getting colder. He prayed again, “God, if that’s really you, please help me.” Again, he heard an answer, “It really is Me. Cut your rope. Trust Me.” He looked down again. It was getting colder. He couldn’t understand why God wanted him to cut his only support. He took out his knife. But he just couldn’t get himself to cut the rope. The next morning in the bright sunlight, a group of rock climbers found him hanging from his rope, frozen to death, ten feet above the ground. So many times, we are at the end of our rope and we need the help of someone we can trust – someone who is faithful, like God. He won’t always explain everything to us, because we simply can’t understand it all – our eyesight is limited. But when we hear His voice in our conscience, we know that the One Who is all-good and all-powerful is faithfully guiding us, as He guided the Wise Men, and He won’t leave us hanging – if we believe in Him. (E- Priest).
22) “Change your name or change your conduct!”: Alexander the Great, one of the most remarkable military leaders who ever lived, conquered almost the entire known world with a relatively small army. One night during a campaign, he couldn't sleep and left his tent to walk around the camp. He came across a soldier asleep on guard duty – a serious offense. The penalty for falling asleep on guard duty was, in some cases, instant death: the commanding officer sometimes poured kerosene on the sleeping soldier and lit it. The soldier began to wake up as Alexander the Great approached him. Recognizing who was standing in front of him, the young man feared for his life. “Do you know what the penalty is for falling asleep on guard duty?” Alexander the Great asked the soldier. “Yes, sir,” the soldier responded in a quivering voice. “Soldier, what’s your name?” demanded Alexander the Great. “Alexander, sir.” Alexander the Great repeated the question: “What is your name?” “My name is Alexander, sir,” the soldier repeated. A third time and more loudly Alexander the Great asked, “What is your name?” A third time the soldier meekly said, “My name is Alexander, sir.” Alexander the Great then looked the young soldier straight in the eye. “Soldier,” he said with intensity, “either change your name or change your conduct!” We Christians who carry the name of Christ shouldn’t be afraid of following Christ – as Herod was. We should be glad to live up to our name, following Christ wherever he leads us – like the Magi. (From “Hot Illustrations”) E- Priest..
23) Conquer by this sign: The Battle of Milvian Bridge was fought between Roman Emperors Constantine I and Maxentius AD 312. On the evening of October 27, with the armies preparing for battle, Constantine had a vision. A most marvellous sign appeared to him from heaven. The famous sign in the sky was a cross of light, with the inscription, Conquer by this. At this sight he himself was struck with amazement, and his whole army also, which followed him on this expedition, and witnessed the miracle. Constantine delineated the sign on the shields of his soldiers, and proceeded to battle, and his troops stood to arms. Maxentius was defeated in the battle, and Constantine was acknowledged as emperor by the senate and people of Rome. Constantine’s victory brought relief to the Christians by ending persecution. 300 years before Constantine, God’s sign appeared on the sky as a luminous star. It announced the Good News that a Saviour was born to emancipate humanity from the clutches of evil. This sign was read by the simple shepherds and wise men. It led the wise men to Bethlehem. (Fr. Bobby).
24) “The light she lit in my life is still burning.” Mother Teresa once visited a poor man in Melbourne, Australia. He was living in a basement room, which was in a terrible state of neglect. There was no light in the room. He did not seem to have a friend in the world. She started to clean and tidy the room. At first he protested, “Leave it alone. It is all right as it is.” But she went ahead anyway. As she cleaned, she chatted with him. Under a pile of rubbish she found an oil lamp covered with dust. She cleaned it and discovered that it was beautiful. And she said to him, “You have got a beautiful lamp here. How she said to him, “You have got a beautiful lamp here. How come you never lighted it?” “Why should I light it?” “No one ever comes to see me.” Will you promise to light it if one of my sisters comes to see you?” “Yes,” he replied. “If I hear a human voice, I will light the lamp.” Two of Mother Teresa’s sisters began to visit him regularly. Things gradually improved for him. Every time the sisters came to visit him, he had the lamp lighted. Then one day he said to them: “Sisters, I will be able to manage myself from now on. Do me a favour. Tell the first sister who came to see me that the light she lit in my life is still burning.” The light that God lit to announce the coming of His son is still burning. The Magi followed the path of the great light and reached the cradle of Jesus. For the last twenty centuries many have followed the footprints of the Magi. Today, Jesus stands before us declaring, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn 8:12). (M K Paul; quoted by Fr. Bobby). L/19
